SOUTH PORTLAND,
Maine--November 27, 2012: --WEX
Inc. , a leading international provider of physical,
digital and virtual corporate card payment solutions, in
collaboration
with IHS , the leading global source of information and
analytics, today released results of its WEX Construction Fuel
Consumption Index (FCI), which indicated an increase of 5.2% in
October
versus its level the previous year.

The WEX Construction FCI measures national fuel consumption
statistics
for the construction industry, which provides an accurate and
up-to-date
indication of construction activity in the United States.

WEX worked with IHS to capture and analyze transaction data from its
closed loop network of more than 180,000 fuel and vehicle maintenance
locations, including over 90 percent of the domestic retail fuel
locations and 45,000 vehicle maintenance locations. With this data,
the
WEX Construction FCI can be used to identify emerging trends within
the
construction industry and the national economy.

The indicators were tested at monthly, quarterly, and annual
frequencies, with the greatest insights produced using the
year-over-year percent change of the monthly data. For October 2012,
the
WEX Construction FCI reported that fuel consumption by U.S.
construction
companies increased 4.1% versus the previous month and increased 5.2%
versus October 2011.

The WEX Construction FCI, which is available monthly in advance of
the
U.S. Census Bureau figures on construction spending, is available at
http://www.wexinc.com/fuel-consumption-index.

Last month's WEX Construction FCI was consistent with
the modest growth
indicated by the seasonally-adjusted index in most of the
government's
subsequent construction data releases. Construction spending
excluding
improvements -- a good measure of activity
-- increased by 0.4% in
September, while private residential construction showed solid growth
of
3.5%. September housing permit statistics grew to the highest level
since July 2008 by increasing 11.6%. Housing starts increased by
15.0%
in September, to an annual rate of 872,000. The strong result for the
WEX Construction FCI in October coincided with a positive October
employment report, as construction employment rose by 17,000 jobs.
Total
construction put-in-place, which is released a month later than the
Fuel
Consumption Index, grew by 0.6% in September.

IHS Analysis

According to the IHS analysis, the two consecutive months of positive
growth in the WEX Fuel Consumption Index coincides with recent signs
of
life for housing statistics. New home sales jumped 5.7% in September
to
an annual 389,000-unit annual rate, which is the highest figure since
April 2010.

While new home sales grew, inventory remained extremely tight. This
is
good news since low inventories will spur builders to either put up
new
homes or lose sales. Another incentive for increased construction is
higher prices. In September, the average and median prices of a new
home
were 14.5% and 11.7% higher than the previous year, respectively.
Although new home sales are improving, they are not expected to reach
the normal levels of above 800,000, until 2015.